A scene from last year’s Christmas play. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Michael Muthu is angry. Lately, with all the focus on presents, snow, Santa Claus, the North Pole, pixies and elves, he feels the real meaning of Christmas is being lost. And through the Mello Circle’s annual Christmas play, he plans to shed light on what the festival really means. “I talk about why Christmas is so important. It’s about the birth of a savior,” he says of the upcoming drama.

Topic loanIt is an original work written and directed by Michael Muthu. “Mello Circle contacted me in March this year and asked me to write one. Usually I write a play when we can’t find a good Christmas play. It is a challenge to find well-written works because they are either very poor or very childish,” he says, listing some of the good works written in the last few years. a Christmas Carol, two from galilee And it’s a Wonderful Life,

By April, Michael had the play ready. He wanted a funny Christmas story. “It’s a strange story; It’s almost ridiculous,” he laughs. It’s about a gangster named Freddy Fingers and brothers named Adrian and Jack who are stuck in a strange situation and need to get out of it. They owe money to Freddy and They have to find a way to pay him back. The whole play is about his transformation and how the brothers try to pay him off by Christmas. That’s all I can give at the moment.”

In rehearsals for this year’s game. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The 110-minute production, as usual, features songs by the Mello Circle Choir. Michael has directed about 22 Christmas plays for Mello Circle and written about five of them. “It is as difficult as writing any other play. The particular challenge here is that Mello Circle always includes a choir in its production. So, I try new ways to incorporate it into the story,” he says, adding that when he writes the story he identifies the parts where the choir needs to come. And what do they like about these presentations? “It is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. There is nothing sweeter than that.”

loan Will be played at Museum Theatre, Chennai on 22, 23 and 24 November. All proceeds from the play will fund Mello Circle’s Anticipation Home of Hope for children living with HIV. Donor passes worth ₹2,500, ₹1,000 and ₹500 are available on Paytm Insider and by calling 9840029047.